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Oregon Health & Science University has named former state Sen. Betsy Johnson and 24 others to a committee that will select the next president of the academic medical center.
Twenty-one of the members are OHSU employees or board members, including Susan King, the chair of the committee. King, a registered nurse, has served on the university board since 2022.
Gov. Tina Kotek recommended four members of the committee, all of them from outside Portland, including Johnson. The other members not affiliated with OHSU are: Sheila Clough, CEO of Mercy Flights; Danny Santos, a retired adviser to four Oregon governors; and Eric Davis, a director at JD Health & Wellness Center, a Salem family practice clinic that offers mental health care and addiction treatment.
Johnson, known for her no-nonsense wit, is the best-known member of the committee. She won a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives in 2000 and moved up to the Senate in 2005. She ran for governor as an independent candidate in 2022.
“OHSU’s success is critical to our entire state,” Gov. Kotek said in a statement. “I believe that these appointments will bring the right set of perspectives, expertise in health care, mental health, business and higher education, and geographic diversity necessary to advance the best possible candidate to serve as the institution’s next president.”
The search committee wouldn’t exist but for Kotek. After keeping mum for months on OHSU’s recent troubles, the governor opposed a plan in October to immediately name medical school dean Dr. Nate Selden as president, replacing Dr. Danny Jacobs, who resigned under pressure that month.
OHSU, once part of the state’s university system, became a public corporation in 1995. Its board members are still appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.
The administration at OHSU has been under fire since late 2023, when a survey of employees revealed that just 54% would stay at the university if offered a comparable job at a different hospital. Just 44% said they had confidence in “senior management’s leadership.”
Morale worsened this year when OHSU leaders asked staff to cut costs and slashed 500 positions. In the midst of those cuts, staffers learned that President Jacobs had gotten a $700,000 bump in retirement pay in 2023, a boost approved unilaterally by former board chair Wayne Monfries.
“Selecting the university president is the single most important role of the board of directors,” said Chad Paulson, who took over as board chair from Monfries in September. “We have convened a group of individuals who represent a broad array of the university’s interests, and we are grateful for their willingness to serve in this capacity.”